For Stackers Only is here to make you think about new avenues of getting to it. “It” is whatever you want it to be. It’s here to motivate you as you navigate the daily hustle. It’s not easy out here but there are things you can do to make YOUR life a little bit easier. A lot of people say “money can’t bring you happiness” and depending on which day of the week it is, I may agree or disagree with that statement. Money can bring you the freedom to figure out what REALLY makes you happy. Just because you have money does not mean you will automatically be happy… BUT with the extra cash, figuring out what makes you happy gets a little easier.

I always say “in order to level up your finances, YOU MUST get your monthly expenses down to something that’s not killing your pockets”.

YOU MUST make more than you spend or else you’re just moving backwards!

You don’t need the most expensive car and you definitely don’t need a luxury condo downtown to live comfy. Buy a used car (CASH if you can) and get a roommate or two. This is called house hacking. It’s when you live in your primary residence, whether you own it or not, and have roommates to assist with the bills. House hacking is a GREAT real estate strategy. It’s even better if you own your own home.

If you have a single family home and rent out the rooms you don’t use, your tenants can possibly pay your mortgage + utilities for you. This also works in multi-unit properties. You live in one unit and rent the other available units out. This lowers your monthly cost of living AND if you own the home, YOUR MORTGAGE IS BEING PAID BY SOMEONE ELSE. Let’s say you have a 3 bedroom home with a mortgage payment of about $1600 per month. By yourself, that might be a lot to handle… especially if an emergency pops up. With one roommate, you can charge them $800 a month with all utilities included and that knocks your mortgage in half. Or get 2 roommates. This also works perfectly with multi family homes. Let’s say you have a duplex with 2 units with a $2000/month mortgage payment. If you can rent one unit for $1200 and live in the other unit, you only have to worry about the other $800. If you want to save more money, you can have a roommate on top of that to eat up that other $800. Even if you rent an apartment and have an extra room, think about house hacking. Get a roommate and save that extra money. It’s all about how bad you want it. House hacking is a great way for a newbie to get their feet wet in real estate. This will give you an introduction to being a landlord with a relatively low amount of risk. You will have to screen for tenants, advertise your room/unit, manage your tenants day to day, collect rent, become familiar with standard contracts/leases, handle contractors when repairs pop up unexpectedly, and the list goes on. It’s not going to be easy, but remember this… THE BEST REWARDS DON’T COME EASY. 

I know I didn’t speak on it much above but driving an older, used car is the one thing I know can help a few people RIGHT NOW as far as finances go. As of June 2019, the average new car loan in America is $32,187. The average for used cars is $20,137. The average new car note is $554. For used cars, it’s $391.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average wage for workers in the US in the 2nd quarter of 2019 was $908 per week or $47,216 per year (with a 40hr work week). Of course these numbers vary by location & occupation.. But if I’m only making $908 a week… I don’t want to spend $400-$600 a month on a car AFTER car insurance, rent, utilities, food, savings… it’s just not financially smart. And you’re a stacker. Stackers don’t spend as much as they make or more. WE SPEND WAAAAAAAY LESS.

So save your bread and find you something that costs around $4k-$10k and PAY CASH. You might need to fix it up but like Uncle Shannon said, “that aint no problem!”. Figure it out. We don’t do excuses over here.